On Tuesday, September 7th, the new Sahuarita Library officially opened its doors to families of the area. The 17,700 square foot library features a Storytime Room with rainbow lights, stuffed animals and lower windows for outside views, a gaming room, patios for reading, private study rooms, and a larger meeting room for programming.
Just walking distance from schools and situated along Sahuarita Rd, providing for easy community access, the building also includes an outdoor performance space. According to the website, this space is the first of its kind in the library system, and was funded by The Pima Library Foundation. The space is planned to host gatherings such like concerts, movies, story hours, poetry readings, art and gardening workshops and more.
The new permanent library is an exciting and welcomed addition to the community, which previously had a temporary Pima County Public Library in space owned by the Rancho Sahuarita Company which opened in January of 2009. Sahuarita was chosen for a library as the Pima Association of Governments (PAG) found it to have the highest estimated growth from 2010 to 2045 in Pima County. In the months that followed, community input was gathered by Pima County in meetings with the Town and Sahuarita Unified School District, through surveys and from insights from library visitors.
Located off of Calle Imperial and Sahuarita Rd, the new building has a simple design for the main, north-facing entrance. However, from the back of the building passing travelers see two glass spaces that at night appear “almost like beacons welcoming people in”. By day, from the glass spaces visitors are treated to beautiful natural light that shines in as well as views of the Santa Rita Mountains. Materials and landscaping for the new library are designed to represent Sahuarita’s long mining and agricultural history, and public art will also be on featured by Chris Aranda of Aranda/Lasch, a New York and Tucson-based design studio.
The permanent library location adds to the growing offerings within the community, meeting the needs of students, families and business owners (who can utilize its spaces for work and for meetings). Betsy Langley, Managing Librarian for the Sahuarita location shared her excitement for the new library and to welcome back members of the community saying, “Opening the doors to the new Sahuarita Library was such a great moment. We’re happy to be here in this space and reunited with our customers.”
More information, including hours of operation and location, can be found at https://www.library.pima.gov/locations/SAH/.
*PHOTO CREDIT: Pima County Communications